


The Closer You Look

by xxx_mlggamer_xxx



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Reunited and It Feels So Good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 20:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7479438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxx_mlggamer_xxx/pseuds/xxx_mlggamer_xxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lula May was sure of two things.<br/>One, being a Horseman was Bad Ass and she could never imagine leaving this life (and the fact that she was waking up every morning to Hunky McHotFace making her coffee didn’t hurt, either).<br/>Two, she knew she wasn’t the first girl Horseman. She was more than aware of the beautiful Henley Reeves, who left supposedly because she was tired of waiting for the Eye (but Lula would bet her life that she was really just tired of waiting for Atlas to get off his ass and sweep her off her feet – and the way that Atlas reacted when she brought it up was proof enough for her theory).<br/>But she never knew the whole story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Closer You Look

                Lula May was sure of two things.

                One, being a Horseman was Bad Ass and she could never imagine leaving this life (and the fact that she was waking up every morning to Hunky McHotFace making her coffee didn’t hurt, either).

                Two, she knew she wasn’t the first girl Horseman. She was more than aware of the beautiful Henley Reeves, who left supposedly because she was tired of waiting for the Eye (but Lula would bet her life that she was really just tired of waiting for Atlas to get off his ass and sweep her off her feet – and the way that Atlas reacted when she brought it up was proof enough for her theory).

                But she never knew the whole story.      

 

                It all started when Dylan had called them all to the kitchen for what Lula, Jack, and Merritt had lovingly dubbed a “family meeting.”

                “Let me start out by saying that this is not, strictly, Eye-related.”

                Translation: Drinks and Cards Against Humanity. Boo-yah.

                “I got a call from an… old friend.”

                Lula might not be a mentalist like Merritt, but she didn’t have to have magic old-man powers to notice the way Dylan’s eyes slid over to Atlas warily. Merritt, however, was able to interpret that look way faster than Lula ever could, as he literally _jumped for joy_ , letting out a loud whoop (resulting in Atlas flinching to the side and placing a hand against his temple as if he was feeling the early symptoms of a migraine). Jack gave a wide smile at the reaction, and it seemed like all the guys had come to the same conclusion.

                “Hey – guys?” Lula waved a hand awkwardly. “Girl Horseman over here –y’know, the sex appeal, vital to the team - extremely confused. Who are we talking about?”

                Merritt calmed himself down enough to clap a hand on her shoulder excitedly.

                “You, my friend, are going to meet the High Priestess.”

 

                The boys were going all out. Lula could swear that Merritt was two seconds away from waxing his head.

                They were meeting Henley Reeves at a little out-of-the-way bar, and the energy that buzzed within the house (that’s right, they finally upgraded from a crappy apartment and now they all lived together like some screwed up sitcom) was crazy.

                Atlas locked himself in his room as soon as Dylan called break – and had yet to emerge. It was a bit worrisome, but the others took turns knocking on his door, checking if he was alive, all that jazz.

                Jack wouldn’t shut up; he was so excited. He kept going on about how long it’s been since they’d seen her, and how much he missed her, and recounted the stories of what happened during what the boys liked to call their “year of living dangerously” about a hundred times too many.

                “You know,” Lula said from where she was sitting on the bed. “If I were any other girl, I would get extremely jealous.”

                Jack looked sheepish for a second there – an expression that was possibly the cutest thing on the planet (except for maybe teacup pigs – Lula was a sucker for teacup pigs) – and before he could apologize, Lula smiled.

                “But I think we’ve already established that I’m not like normal girls.” She said, and laughed as Jack immediately checked his pockets for his wallet.

 

                They were all sitting together in the booth – waiting for Dylan, who was picking up Henley from the airport, and all that energy from earlier had turned nervous and tense.

                Lula squeezed Jack’s hand under the table, and he looked at her gratefully. She felt pressure on her other hand and saw that Merritt had taken the opportunity to take hold of it.  He grinned at her coyly, raising one eyebrow, and she snorted before slapping him gently in mock offense.

                Atlas was sitting across the three, and he was fiddling with a card in his hand (how did he always seem to have cards with him??). Upon further inspection, it was a tarot card. _The Lovers._ How appropriate.

                “So what’s with the tarot cards?”

                At the confused glances of the guys, Lula simply shrugged. “Atlas has got one – Jack’s got one hidden in his wallet,” _Death_ , scarily enough. “And I’m willing to bet that you’ve got one, too, old man.”

                “Okay, you got me,” Merritt pulled a card from his breast pocket. _The Hermit_. “We all got ‘em right before we met.” He spun the card so Lula could take a look, and she saw the Eye and the address on the back.

                “Coooool. Hey why didn’t I get one??”

                Atlas gave her a look as if to say _Are you serious?_ “Maybe because you weren’t recruited – you broke into my apartment.”

                “Yeah, well –“ Before Lula could get him back (although realistically, there was no way she could argue with that), Dylan walked in, looking for the Horsemen.

                It was almost as if they were at a wedding, or greeting the fracking president – because all the boys stood at once.    

                “Hey – Henley Reeves! As beautiful as always,” Merritt took the lead with what would quickly devolve into a hugging party. “I see you finally accepted my… corkscrew invitation.” He said with a wink.

                _Wow_.

                Atlas looked like he was going to take his glass and beat Merritt to death with it, but Henley was laughing and kissing Merritt’s cheek. “I’ve missed you too, Merritt, but in your dreams.”

                “What? You’ve got no boyfriend, maybe a couple cats, come on, you know you want to -“

                “Yeah, okay, let’s just shut that down immediately.” Lula interrupted. She knew that Merritt could be a bit invasive with is his mentalism trick. But it all seemed to roll off of Henley, as she smiled easily and laughed again before directing her attention to Jack.

                “Jack Wilder – I saw your show, you were amazing! I am so proud of you!” Jack’s ears turned pink and, unfortunately, Lula found that she wasn’t all that different to other girls.

                There was a pang of jealousy there. And maybe it wasn’t because Jack was blushing at the words of another woman (Lula could tell that what they had was platonic, bordering on maternal. She wasn’t blind). Rather, it was the easy relationship that Henley seemed to have with all the guys – even after all these years and a rough falling out.

                She wished she had that.

                She was pulled out of her train of thought when Jack grabbed her arm and wrapped his around her shoulders. “And this, Henley, is Lula. Lula, Henley.”

                Lula didn’t know what to say. What was there to say? _Hi, I’m your replacement, because clearly us women are as disposable as Kleenex to these guys, am I right?_ Or _Hi, don’t worry, I totally_ didn’t _mean to completely take your place in this sausage fest in the hopes that someday, everyone will forget about you in favor of me?_ Dang, why did all her options sound so catty?

                Turns out the Henley had her covered. “it is so nice to meet you, I’m so glad I left my boys in good hands.”

                Lula shook a gloved hand awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you too, and trust me. These hands? Great Hands.” _Don’t Ramble, don’t ramble_ “it’s just, I was such a fan of your work – escapism is so cool, man, and I really have to thank you for leaving,” _WHAT ARE YOU DOING PULL BACK NOW_!! “no, no that came out wrong, it’s just I’ve had so much fun with these guys and-“

                Right when Lula figured she might as well lock herself in a safe and throw herself into the Thames (too soon?), Henley started laughing graciously. “It’s no problem. After all, it was my decision to leave in the first place. I’m just glad you’re here to set them straight.”

                Lula’s past interactions with other members of the female persuasion were less than pleasant. She only ever had guy friends in school and her sisters were demons come to earth. But when Henley spoke, she didn’t sound spiteful, or passive aggressive, or in the least bit catty. She just sounded genuine.

                It was a refreshing change of pace.

                Lula really liked this girl.

                And then, Henley seemed to look past Lula, and her smile froze on her face– and what? Oh. Of course.

                There was Atlas, in all his rigid glory, still fidgeting with the card in his hand and avoiding eye contact. It was startling – the total change of character than the typical cocky know-it-all that Lula had come to know and love.

                Lula couldn’t help but feel the sudden urge to jump for cover (her mom stabbed her dad at the dinner table, okay? She had the right to be a little wary).

Henley’s wide grin shrunk into a small, sincere smile. There was warmth in her eyes and this smile seemed so _powerful_.

                “Danny.”

                _Danny??_

Well, that was a new development.

                The first time Lula called Atlas “Danny”, she had been shut down almost immediately, with Jack and Merritt sharing sympathetic glances.

                _“Just call me Atlas.”_ Had been his curt response.

                Lula raised an eyebrow and tried to keep her jaw from dropping when, instead of making a snide comment, _Danny_ gave a small smirk and huffed a little laugh.

                He stretched his hand out for Henley to shake, clearly choosing a more professional route.

                Too bad Merritt was having none of that, as he slapped Atlas on the back and pushed him hard into what could only be described as the most awkward hug in the history of human existence.

                “it’s –uh” Lula continued to be shocked. The last time Danny didn’t know what to say, they had woken up in _China_. “It’s nice to see you again.”

                Oh, God. It was like watching second graders flirt. It was absolutely horrifying. And it was absolutely adorable.

                “You too, Danny.”

                Atlas pulled out his tarot card one more time, and Henley laughed and pulled out her own from her purse. _The High Priestess_. And, since apparently Atlas only knew how to charm a lady when magic was involved, he quickly “transformed” the card into a single rose. A black rose, to be specific.

                “A black rose, for a black day?”

                At least this time Lula wasn’t the only one who was confused, as Jack looked just as lost as she did. Merritt seemed to have some pretty good guesses, but he _always_ had some pretty good guesses, so Lula didn’t count it.

                And for a second there, Atlas and Henley seemed to forget that they were in a public place – that the other horsemen were there, that anything else in the world existed, and everything seemed to still, waiting for what was going to happen next, as if their lives were a terrible, cheesy drama (the kind Lula _totally_ didn’t watch with a tub of ice cream every Wednesday night).

                “This might, uh, be _long_ overdue, but if it means anything, I was a total dick.”

                “ _Understatement_ ” Merritt coughed into his sleeve oh so inconspicuously, shrugging when Atlas sent him a glare that could cut glass, and Lula couldn’t help but giggle a little.

                Henley took the rose, her smile a little wider, saying “I know you were.” Looking back at the rest of them and going to sit down, she said “Now tell me what the _hell_ you did to your hair.”

                It wasn’t an apology, per say, Lula noticed, but is seemed to be enough for the two of them. And, as Merritt joked that “Danny-Boy here just wanted to be more like yours truly,”, and Jack rebutted with “Thank all that is holy he hasn’t gone out and bought a fedora and some terrible Hawaiian shirts – we probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart”, Lula was happy to note that the atmosphere had changed once again. Merritt, Jack, even Dylan (who was getting started on his first drink of the night and smirking at the gang’s antics) were more relaxed in a mom-and-dad-got-back-together kind of way.

                _Henley’s perfect. She’s just the thing these guys needed._ Lula thought to herself, _and maybe what I needed, too._

And, if just for one night, everything was perfect again.

                “Look, if _Buffy_ wants to accessorize, that’s his decision. We have no right to judge him.”

                “Oh my _GOD, LULA.” _

 

 

               


End file.
